Third in the series of Aubrey-Maturin adventures, this book is set among
the strange sights and smells of the Indian subcontinent, and in the
distant waters ploughed by the ships of the East India Company. Aubrey
is on the defensive, pitting wits and seamanship against an enemy
enjoying overwhelming local superiority. But somewhere in the Indian
Ocean lies the prize that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams:
the ships sent by Napoleon to attack the China Fleet.